2012 Short Story Contest Winners Announced

Larina Lavergne won for her piece

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Just like last year, four of the five finalists in the Observer’s second annual Short Story Contest are Texans. This time, though, the prize is leaving the Lone Star State for Raleigh, North Carolina, where Larina Lavergne wrote her winning story “Water Birth.”

Starting Friday, each week we’ll publish one of the four finalists online. Larina’s winning story will appear in our September issue, which features expanded books coverage.

We thank all the writers who participated in the contest. Special thanks goes to our guest judge Heidi Durrow, who chose the winning entry. You can find Heidi online at heidiwdurrow.com, and make sure to read her award-winning novel The Girl Who Fell From the Sky.

Winner:
Larina Lavergne (Raleigh, NC): “Water Birth”

Finalists:
Martin Barkley (Austin, TX): “Around the Cul-de-Sac”
Wayne Gay (Denton, TX): “Graduation Day”
Monica Teresa Ortiz (Austin, TX): “Mephistopheles in the EPT”
Garry Reece (Houston, TX): “A Few Letters to Canada Lee”

Honorable Mentions: Aaron Block (Boston, MA): “Another Tale of Wall Street”
Diana Bourdier (Shenandoah, TX): “Tripod”
Catherine J. Brow (Topanga, CA): “Passing Lies”
Mary C. Curtis (Charlotte, NC): “Just Like Fassbender”
Tom Dodge (Midlothian, TX): “The Good Samaritan, So to Speak”
Tom Doyal (Austin, TX): “Thanksgiving”
Christine Granados (Fredericksburg, TX): “He’s Got Game”
Johnny Hughes (Lubbock, TX): “The Hero of Cointelpro”
Ramiro G. Hinojosa (Austin, TX): “Day is Done”
Michelle Hillen Klump (Houston, TX): “Equal Parts Pride and Stubbornness”
Leah Kaminsky (Austin, TX): “And How the Algae Twines”
mac (New York, NY): “Lonetree”
Susan Marx (Wimberley, TX): “The Ghost of San Patricio”
John H. Matthews (Chicago, IL): “Mercurochrome”
Bryce Milligan (San Antonio, TX): “Tom Poole’s Gatehouse”
Mary O. Parker (Smithville, TX): “Speaking in Tongues”
Sarah Rodriguez Pratt (Austin, TX): “The Least I Can Do”
Robyn Ross (Austin, TX): “The Interpretation of Clouds”
David R. Schleicher (Waco, TX): “An Honorable Disgrace”
Graciela Sills (Austin, TX): “By Any Other Name”
Teresa M. Taylor (Austin, TX): “Good Luck Collecting Rent in December”
Rick D. Tobin (Spring Branch, TX): “Dry Spell”
Diane Toulmin (Vancouver, B.C.): “Body Language”
John Moore Walker (Austin, TX): “The Hanging of Bennett Hawkins”
Bonnie West (St. Paul, MN): “Pathology”